Sales rarely hit the five-figure mark, much more frequently residing in the 1,200-1,800 range, with sales of 400 copies or less not being all that uncommon. Why this is the case is a long, involved discussion with many variables, prejudices, and unprovable hypotheses.

What’s important to point out is that sales of 1,500 copies of a translation is very definitely not profitable. Including salaries, production, design, marketing, translation, author advances, distribution, and overhead costs, a translation generally runs a publisher about $35,000. Sales of 1,500 of a $24 hardcover would net a publisher about $18,000 in revenue. A ways short of the $35,000 invested . . . (Not many Investment Bankers out there support a ROI of -50%. At least not many who are still employed.)

This situation results in a sort of economic censorship (thanks to Esther Allen for that term) in which publishers shy away from translations because of the fact that they’re very, very likely to lose a wad of cash on these books. It’s for that reason that most translations are done by independent, university, and nonprofit presses such as Archipelago, New Directions, Dalkey Archive, NYRB, Univ. of Nebraska Press, and soon enough, Open Letter.